Vertical guide · 2026
Google Ads for Travel & Hospitality
Google Ads for travel demands brand protection and Performance Max mastery. Hotels that don't bid on their own names lose 20-40% of direct bookings to OTAs, and the operators who leverage PMax Travel Goals consistently outperform those who stick with traditional Search.
Indicative CPC range
$1 to $6
Conversion rate
2% to 5.5%
Typical budget
$2,000–$30,000/month
Key challenges
- 1.OTAs (Booking, Expedia) aggressively bid on hotel brand terms, stealing direct bookings
- 2.Performance Max Travel Goals is now the dominant placement type for hotels
- 3.Seasonality creates 3-5x CPC swings between peak and off-peak
Winning tactics
- Protect brand terms from OTAs with dedicated high-bid brand campaigns
- Enable Performance Max with Travel Goals for hotel bookings
- Use dayparting and seasonality adjustments for up to 40% CPA improvement
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